MLB Player News

The Astros reinstated Dubin (shoulder) from the 15-day injured list Sunday.

Houston optioned fellow righty reliever Logan VanWey to Triple-A Sugar Land to open up a spot in the bullpen for Dubin, who had been on the shelf all season due to right shoulder inflammation. After giving up just one earned run while striking out nine over five innings during his rehab assignment with Sugar Land and Double-A Corpus Christi, Dubin looks poised to handle a middle-relief role.

Gusto will start Monday's game against the Royals in Houston, Brian McTaggart of MLB.com reports.

Gusto made his latest appearance in relief May 4 against the White Sox, giving up three unearned runs while recording two outs. Prior to that outing, Gusto had made four consecutive starts and was generally impressive, going 2-1 with a 3.79 ERA, 1.26 WHIP and 20:4 K:BB in 19 innings. The Astros will reopen a starting role for Gusto as a result of Hayden Wesneski (elbow) landing on the injured list Friday.

The Orioles activated Eflin (lat) from the 15-day injured list to start Sunday's game against the Angels.

The right-hander was sidelined just over a month due to a lat strain, but he'll rejoin Baltimore's rotation after firing four scoreless frames in his lone rehab start last weekend. Eflin threw only 58 pitches in that outing, so he will likely have some workload limitations for his first couple starts back with the Orioles. The 31-year-old delivered quality starts in all three of his outings prior to the injury and had a 3.00 ERA, 0.83 WHIP and 8:1 K:BB over 18 innings.

Alvarez (hand) has been cleared to grip a bat and could start hitting off a tee Monday, Brian McTaggart of MLB.com reports.

It's progress for Alvarez, who was placed on the injured list Monday due to a right hand muscle strain. He's first eligible to come off the injured list Tuesday, but he'll likely need to take dry swings without issue before the Astros activate him. According to McTaggart, Alvarez could be reinstated prior to a series against the Rangers that begins Thursday, so the Astros seem to have some optimism that the slugger will return within the week.

Schmidt is scheduled to start Monday's game at Seattle, Chris Kirschner of The Athletic reports.

The right-hander was a candidate to start Sunday in Sacramento following the demotion of Carlos Carrasco earlier in the week, but Schmidt will instead take the mound Monday. Schmidt surrendered eight runs over his first two starts after missing the first few weeks of the season due to a shoulder issue, but he's given up just three earned runs with 10 strikeouts over 11 frames in his past two outings.

Yarbrough is starting Sunday's game against the Athletics, Chris Kirschner of The Athletic reports.

The left-hander will make another spot start after Carlos Carrasco was DFA'd on Tuesday. Yarbrough has pitched well as a swingman with a 3.72 ERA, 1.24 WHIP and 18:9 K:BB across 19.1 innings. He set season highs with 64 pitches across four frames in his previous outing May 3 and is likely to have a similar workload Sunday in Sacramento.

Fermin is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Red Sox.

Fermin will get a breather after he started each of the Royals' last three contests. Luke Maile will check in for Fermin behind the dish.

Wong is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Royals.

After going 3-for-4 with a home run and a walk in Saturday's 10-1 win, Carlos Narvaez will be rewarded with another start behind the dish. The Red Sox have turned their catching situation into a timeshare with Wong stumbling to a .396 OPS over his first 42 plate appearances this season. Narvaez, meanwhile, owns a .730 OPS across 102 plate appearances.

Campbell is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Royals.

Campbell will take a seat for the series finale after going 3-for-26 with no walks and seven strikeouts over the prior six games. David Hamilton will fill in for Campbell at the keystone.

The White Sox optioned Freeman to Triple-A Charlotte on Sunday.

He'll give up his spot on the 26-man roster to right-hander Yoendrys Gomez, whom the White Sox claimed off waivers Saturday from the Dodgers. Freeman made four relief appearances in his first look at big-league hitters and was charged with two earned runs on four hits and one walk over 2.1 innings.